Dichotomyctere cf. fluviatilis (Hamilton, 1822)

Zainal Abidin, Danial Hariz, Lavoué, Sébastien, Mohd Abu Hassan Alshari, Norli Fauzani, Mohd. Nor, Siti Azizah, A. Rahim, Masazurah & Mohammed Akib, Noor Adelyna, 2021, Ichthyofauna of Sungai Merbok Mangrove Forest Reserve, northwest Peninsular Malaysia, and its adjacent marine waters, Check List 17 (2), pp. 601-631 : 627

Dichotomyctere cf. fluviatilis (Hamilton, 1822)

Material examined. MALAYSIA • 1, 164 mm TL; Kedah State, Merbok, Pompang Sungai Merbok ; 05.664°N, 100.381°E; 6 Dec. 2018; Danial H. Zainal Abidin, Norli F.M.A.H. Alshari leg.; USMFC (40) 00006 .

Identification. Maximum TL less than 200 mm ( Dekkers 1975). Body stout, dorsal and ventral profiles con- vex; marking pattern irregular, complex; dorsum with two black blotches between head and dorsal fin: first large asymetric blotch between pectoral fins, second oval blotch in front of dorsal fin; side with small plain black spots and few large black circles with few large black ring spots: one below the base of dorsal fin, one at base of cau- dal fin and one below the second dorsal blotch; ventrolat- eral surface greyish; pectoral, dorsal and anal fins mostly plain greyish; caudal fin greyish with fainted crossbars.

This specimen share marking pattern similarities with Dichotomyctere fluviatilis (Hamilton, 1822) ,which naturally occurs along the coasts of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, in having two dorsal, black blotches between head and dorsal fin and the presence of distinct spots nearby the base of dorsal fin, at the base of caudal fin and below the second dorsal blotch ( Dekkers 1975). Our specimen also presents difference such as the absence of a third transverse black blotch on the posterior part of the head. More specimens are needed to confidently resolve the taxonomic status of this species.